Background

NK cells seem to be mainly involved in COVID-19 pneumonia. Little is known about NKT cells which represent a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity.

Methods

We characterized peripheral blood T, NK and NKT cells in 45 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (COVID-19 subjects) and 19 healthy donors (HDs). According to the severity of the disease, we stratified COVID-19 subjects into severe and non-severe groups.

Results

Compared to HDs, COVID-19 subjects showed higher percentages of NK CD57+ and CD56dim NK cells and lower percentages of NKT and CD56bright cells. In the severe group we found a significantly lower percentage of NKT cells. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, NKT cell was independently associated with the severity of the disease.

Conclusions

The low percentage of NKT cells in peripheral blood of COVID-19 subjects and the independent association with the severity of the disease suggests a potential role of this subset.

中文翻译：

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严重COVID-19肺炎患者中NKT细胞的大量减少

背景

NK细胞似乎主要与COVID-19肺炎有关。NKT细胞代表自然免疫和适应性免疫之间的桥梁知之甚少。

方法

我们表征了45例COVID-19肺炎患者（COVID-19受试者）和19位健康供体（HD）的外周血T，NK和NKT细胞的特征。根据疾病的严重程度，我们将COVID-19受试者分为严重和非严重组。

结果

与HD相比，COVID-19受试者的NK CD57 +和CD56dim NK细胞百分比更高，而NKT和CD56bright细胞的百分比更低。在严重组中，我们发现NKT细胞的百分比明显降低。在多元逻辑回归分析中，NKT细胞与疾病的严重程度独立相关。

结论

COVID-19受试者外周血中NKT细胞的百分比较低，并且与疾病严重程度的独立相关性暗示了该亚群的潜在作用。